Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 8: Raijor Dal president and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi on Sunday announced the formal breakdown of his party’s alliance with the Congress ahead of the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, blaming senior Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain for what he described as “arrogance” that derailed the seat-sharing talks.
Addressing the reporters here, Akhil Gogoi alleged that the alliance collapsed primarily due to disagreements over seat allocation, particularly over a single constituency.
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He said that despite several rounds of discussions, the Congress leadership failed to honour earlier assurances given to his party.
“Congress had approached us with a proposal for an alliance and sought our support. We had only asked for 15 constituencies to contest. However, they were willing to leave only nine seats for us, which was unacceptable,” Gogoi said.
He further claimed that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had earlier indicated that the Dhing Assembly constituency would be allotted to Raijor Dal as part of the alliance arrangement.
According to him, senior Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi had also conveyed the same assurance during the negotiations.
“Both the AICC and Pradyut Bordoloi had informed us that Dhing would be given to our party. But later, Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain refused to allow that,” Gogoi alleged.
The Raijor Dal chief maintained that the dispute over the Dhing seat eventually led to the collapse of the proposed alliance between the two parties.
Gogoi also alleged that protests by Congress workers in Dalgaon against the proposed alliance were not spontaneous but were carried out under direct instructions from the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC).
“Congress workers protesting in Dalgaon were acting under the direct instructions of the APCC leadership,” he claimed.
The development is seen as a setback for the prospects of opposition unity in Assam ahead of the crucial Assembly polls, as efforts had been underway to forge a broader alliance among anti-BJP forces in the state.
With the collapse of the talks, Raijor Dal is now expected to contest the elections independently.
